Having joined Jeff Hornacek’s staff when his former teammate was hired to coach the Suns in 2013, West was recently invited by Jim Pitman, the Mercury’s general manager, to spend some time with Griner, and as of this week has been filling Lange’s old role as Griner’s pre-practice workout partner. “I’m just trying to teach her some subtleties, because she’s already talented,” West said after one such session Thursday. “She’s had great success without me ever showing up in the gym, so I can just try to pass on some of the little tricks of the trade that I know from being around the game for a long time, and incorporate it with some of the things she already does.”